Yang Hongxing stood with her hands on her hips, a tigress in her demeanor, looking down on Liu Xiaoyu with mocking scorn, "Don't you still have three pigs? Sister-in-law, if you don't have the money, just pay off the debt with a pig."
Upon hearing this, Liu Xiaoyu panicked, looking pleadingly at Yang Hongxing with tears streaming down, "Sister-in-law, that's absolutely not possible, those pigs are for Tang Huai and Tang Li's school fees!"
"Your Tang Huai and Tang Li need to go to school, but my Zhixuan and Tang Ying also need to go to school!" Yang Hongxing barked, "Either give me a hundred bucks or give me a pig!"
The mention of Tang Ying violently tugged at Tang Huai's heart.
Tang Ying... the woman who had betrayed her in her past life!
Tang Huai was frail and thin. As she walked to the bed, she said to Yang Hongxing, "Auntie, everyone knows that depositing money into a bank earns interest, just as buying things costs money."
"Tang Huai, you're awake?" Liu Xiaoyu looked at Tang Huai with reddened eyes.
"Mom, my sister was crying badly, I'll hold her." Tang Huai sat before the bed and gently picked up the baby girl.
Once picked up, the baby girl suddenly stopped crying.
Yang Hongxing sneered, looking at Tang Huai and Liu Xiaoyu with disdain, "Of course!"
"It's just like how an aunt would pay living expenses every month for a cousin fostered in your home," Tang Huai said lightly, her gaze falling on her little sister's face.
"Therefore, the money I loaned to your father for these two years should have earned interest!" Tang Youming said loudly.
Tang Huai nodded calmly, looking at Tang Youming, "Uncle, when you and Auntie went to work in town for three years, Zhixuan and Tang Ying were fostered at my home, weren't they? Over these three years, you haven't given my parents a single penny. When you lent the money to my dad, you expressly stated in front of the village chief that there would be no interest. When you left your children with us, my dad had already said that if there wasn't enough rice or if there weren't enough quilts in winter, you should send money, but you kept dragging it out. Over those three years, not to mention money, you didn't even send a single sweet potato our way. Having lived in the city, you should know that one has to pay for all living expenses, right?"
Liu Xiaoyu, fearing Tang Youming would hit Tang Huai upon hearing her words, quickly grabbed Tang Huai's clothes with a pleading look, "Tang Huai, how can you talk to your uncle like that?"
It was clear what Tang Huai meant—she was demanding the living expenses for the two children who had been fostered at her home for three years.
Not only Liu Xiaoyu understood Tang Huai's words, but Tang Youming and Yang Hongxing did too.
Yang Hongxing's eyes flared with fury as she glared at Tang Huai: "You little bitch, you have the audacity to bring up those three years? What did your family feed my two children? Every day it was sweet potatoes and plain porridge, and they didn't eat meat even once in half a month!"
"My family was poor, and it was tough enough for my parents to support us. Before you left your kids at our home, my dad had already said that there wouldn't be meat every week. You said it was fine, that you would send money, but three years have passed and you haven't sent a penny."
Tang Huai calmly looked at Tang Youming and Yang Hongxing, "Uncle, Auntie, although sweet potatoes and plain porridge aren't expensive, during those three years, Zhixuan and Tang Ying ate at least six sweet potatoes and four bowls of porridge from our home every day. Let's calculate it based on the prices of sweet potatoes and porridge in town from three years ago. You can pay us for those three years of living expenses, then we'll have money, and my mom can pay you the interest. Oh, and about the meat, even though it wasn't often—once every half a month or month—though we didn't buy much, my mom always feared Zhixuan and Tang Ying would not have enough, so they always ate more than Tang Li and me. For the meat expenses, you can give whatever you feel is right."
"You little wretch, how dare you do math with me?" Tang Youming was so angry his veins bulged, and he stepped forward to slap Tang Huai.
Liu Xiaoyu, in fright, rushed over to guard Tang Huai behind her, looking imploringly at Tang Youming, "Brother, please calm down. Tang Huai is still a child; you can't hit her."
"You wretched woman, get out of the way!" Tang Youming shoved Liu Xiaoyu, and the frail woman nearly crashed into the headboard.
"I'll go to the village chief!" Tang Huai suddenly shouted as Tang Youming's raised arm was about to slap her face.
Indeed, Tang Youming's hand, held high, froze in mid-air.
It wasn't that he feared the village chief but rather Tang Huai's piercing cold eyes that startled him, stopping him in his tracks.
Tang Youming stared blankly at Tang Huai, unnerved by her terrifying gaze!
Tang Huai was usually introverted and silent. Because her family was poor and Liu Xiaoyu couldn't bear a son, the villagers gossiped about them, making her feel inferior; she didn't play with other village children. To be precise, no children in the village would play with her.
Usually, when her aunts bullied her, she would never fight back or talk back.
And now, she knew to call for the village chief?
Shuanglong Village is a large village, and the village head's family wields considerable influence there.
The village head also has three handsome, tall sons, and many girls in the village dreamed of marrying one of them.
People like Tang Youming and Yang Hongxing always acted respectfully in front of the village head, hoping to leave a good impression and have the chance for their daughters to marry into the Jing Family.
Tang Youming was intimidated by Tang Huai's gaze and hesitated, his hand frozen mid-air.
However, Yang Hongxing standing behind him didn't see Tang Huai's gaze; upon hearing that Tang Huai was seeking the village head, Yang Hongxing became furious like a lioness with bristling fur.
She charged forward, pointing at Tang Huai and scolded, "You are really shameless, you wretched girl, have you tired of living? How dare you talk back to your elders? I tell you, if you don't pay the interest from those two years, I'll take a pig from your home!"
Tang Huai, unruffled, replied, "If you don't give back the three years' worth of boarding fees for my family, I also want a pig from your home."
"What's all the noise about?" At that moment, a stern voice cut in.
Tang Huai looked up to see her grandfather, Tang Peijun, now bent with age, walking in.
Tang Peijun regarded Tang Youming sternly: "Your brother's body is not yet cold, and you're here to claim debts? Your sister-in-law is in confinement; can't you let her recover in peace?"
"Father, if I don't take back those interest payments, where will Zhixuan find the money for his tuition?" Although Yang Hongxing was unhappy that Tang Peijun defended Liu Xiaoyu, she did not dare show any resentment in front of him.
Old man Tang Peijun had his own coffers to worry about, and Yang Hongxing was always eyeing those.
"Claiming debts is not appropriate at a time like this, at least show some respect for your deceased uncle!" Tang Peijun's defense of Liu Xiaoyu was entirely out of consideration for his late son.
Tang Peijun had dearly loved his youngest son and had felt great resentment towards Liu Xiaoyu for not producing a male heir.
"Father, then we'll go back first and return after my sister-in-law's confinement is over," said Yang Hongxing, poking Tang Youming in the back and speaking politely to Tang Peijun.
Tang Youming was a little henpecked; when his wife signaled to leave, he did not dare to stay.
After the two left, Tang Peijun's stern and murky eyes swept faintly over Liu Xiaoyu and Tang Huai, then he turned and left.
Once outside the door, Tang Peijun stopped and slowly turned around, looking at Liu Xiaoyu, "It's only right to pay back the debts you owe. Zhixuan is starting middle school this year; make sure you pay Youming back the money before school begins. He has three children to put through school; it's not easy for him."
After speaking, he turned his gaze to Tang Huai's face, "Tang Huai, you're also starting middle school, but what's the point for a girl to read so much? I've heard that there's a restaurant in the county town hiring young girls. After your mother finishes her confinement, you should go help wash dishes. In two or three years, you can marry into a good family and your life will be more comfortable."
If Tang Huai had not lived through her previous life, she might have actually agreed with Tang Peijun's words. What's the use of a girl reading so much? Marrying into a good family and bearing children would be her job.
But now, Tang Huai was no longer the meek and self-doubting little girl of the past.
After Tang Peijun left, Liu Xiaoyu took the baby girl from Tang Huai's arms and rebuked her, "Tang Huai, you shouldn't talk back to your third uncle, he's your elder."
Tang Huai snorted coldly and mockingly in her heart; what kind of elder was that? It was nothing but moral blackmail!
Tang Huai looked at Liu Xiaoyu and sincerely said, "Mother, the more submissive you are, the more those aunts will take advantage of you. Even when Father was around, they bullied us often, and now that Father is gone, they'll be even more outrageous. If we don't fight back, they'll think we're cowards. Also, I want to study; don't listen to Grandfather."
In her previous life, she hadn't even attended middle school, going straight to work in the county town. Without knowledge or education, she found it difficult to get a job. In the big city, life was hard.
She had thought marrying Jing Peng was her blessing from a past life, but she never expected their marriage to be a deceitful conspiracy in which he schemed against her kidney!
"Your grades are good, and you were accepted to a key middle school in the county, which is excellent," Liu Xiaoyu naturally hoped her daughter could obtain more education, "but still..."
Thinking of how she now had such young children and no husband, Liu Xiaoyu couldn't help but sob.